It has been virtually heretofore to transport or refine dry organic foods without producing dust size particles thereof. These dusts when mixed with air are troublesome to man and animals; and in proper concentrations can be explosive. This is true of all grains, the milled products thereof, as well as processed foods made therefrom. Dried milk, sugars, powdered eggs, starches, and protein meals are further examples of materials that produce troublesome dusts. The problems that arise from grain dusts are well known, and these problems have existed since the time man first started threshing grain and storing the kernels thereof in a dry form for future use. Man has long known that if he wets the grain with water, that he can reduce the liberation of dust to the air; but the problem with wetting grain is that it can not be stored thereafter without spoiling. When grain has been wetted heretofore, it has been necessary to use it up before it mildewed and spoiled, or to dry it immediately so that it could be stored. Man has also known that oils of one kind or another can be sprayed on dusty materials to keep down the dust. In most cases oils, and particularly edible oils, can become rancid and may leave taste and/or odors on the food. In the handling of coal, streams of water are used to impinge upon the dust and carry it away, or the streams are used to wash the coal and extract the dust size particles therefrom. It can be seen that the conventional methods for controlling dust in nonfood items are not applicable for the control of dust in food products.
From all of the conventional knowledge of controlling dust, only conventional electrical and mechanical dust collecting equipment has been adapted for the control of food dusts. Such equipment is large and expensive and it is not always practical to run air ducts to every location were food dust may arise. Obviously the problem of controlling food dusts is more complicated than that involved in handling inorganic dusts. The problem is almost as old as modern man; and yet, the problem exists to this day.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of controlling food dusts which is reliable, and inexpensive, and does not produce spoilage, unsanitary build-ups, or explosion hazards in any way.
For those who, after reading the solution to this problem, may say that some of the steps involved are obvious to them, let us remind the reader that there are very good reasons which have caused man not to use some of the steps involved; and that prior to applicants' work no one knew the narrow limits within which some of the other steps could be safely undertaken.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates after reading the following description taken with the accompanying drawings.